Chai Latte Love
by Mychin
Summary: Katniss Everdeen was not much of a coffee drinker, but a certain smiling barista has her coming back to the coffee shop more often than she'd like to admit. **There were some formatting issues but I have hopefully fixed them now. Sorry about that!***
1. Chapter 1

Katniss Everdeen was not much of a coffee drinker, but sometimes she just needed a jolt of caffeine in the late afternoon to get her through her evening class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she usually had to kill some time between her mandatory office hours and the evening class anyway, so she started walking over to the coffee shop just off campus. There was one on campus, of course, but the walk in the fresh air helped clear her head, and besides, the Tribute Street Coffee House was nicer and much quieter.

At first she tried drinking just plain black coffee, but even with an unhealthy number of sugar packets and enough cream to make it more like flavored milk than coffee, she just couldnd stop by and get herself a treat after running errands, as a sort of reward. The week she found herself in the coffee shop 6 out of the 7 days, she knew she had officially become an addict.

Spending all that time and money at the coffee house, Katniss naturally began to know the different baristas. Most were friendly, some more talkative than others, but as Katniss was not much of a talker, she kept mostly to herself. But still she paid attention to who made her drinks the way she liked-not too sweet, not too bitter and always with non-fat milk, but never with the sugar free syrup because that tasted totally fake.

Who knows how long she could have gone on happily sucking down 500 calorie lattes pumped full of sugar if he hadnt have even noticed the new barista except that he was the root of the long line problem. It seemed that he insisted on learning the life story of every single person that stepped up to the counter. She huffed in annoyance and shifted her weight in her tall boots, frowning as she folded her arms across her chest and tried to decide between a salted caramel latte and a peppermint chocolate latte.

By the time it was her turn to order the scowl on her face was practically etched in stone and she glared at the counter where she placed her frequent customer card while mumbling that she wanted a small peppermint latte. **the new barista said in a friendly voice. She finally looked up and was immediately stunned silent by the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. she stuttered, while he stood there grinning at her. he chirped, taking her card and swiping it before handing it back to her. ll have it right up! Can I get a name for your cup?**Katniss?,t like to be caught off guard, and that is exactly what he had done to her, with his overly friendly banter and those startling blue eyes, that she now saw were offset by an abundance of golden curls, some of which hung carelessly over his forehead. It wasnt until she was tossing her empty cup into a trash can halfway across campus that she saw he had drawn a smiley face under her name. She rolled her eyes but could not supress the smile that turned her lips upward on their own accord.


	2. Chapter 2

Smiley. Thatt there every time she went to the coffee shop, but he was there most of the times. Each time he was grinning ear to ear, laughing and talking to every customer as if they were old friends. Katniss found it hard to look him in the eye-he was just so damn happy it made her squirm. Still, she found herself looking for him as soon as she pulled open the coffee shop door and was disappointed on the days she found he wasnt sure why it should matter.

It was a Thursday evening a few weeks after Smiley started working at the shop, that Katniss learned his real name and discovered that she wasnt very busy in the shop and as she approached the counter and his trademark grin, and Katniss found herself inadvertently smiling back. Quickly she schooled her face back to neutral, biting her lip in embarrassment.

**he said, His face dropped slightly at her obvious frown. To be honest, she just wasnt know why. He seemed to sense this and before she could settle for one or the other, he piped up again, s my favorite and I have a feeling you might like it, too. It **

**At her slight nod, he continued on, chuckling lightly, s a yes? Here, let me make it for you. If you don He was beaming at her like a kid in a candy shop, so she merely nodded again, struck mute in his presence as usual. **

**There was no one in line behind her, so he moved over to the machinery and began to push and pull the levers to make her this chai tea latte he suggested. he continued, Katniss felt her face flush with heat. He noticed which days she came to the coffee shop? Did he do this with all the customers? He did seem overly interested in everyone who came through the line. Still, it seemed strange that he would have this level of interest in her schedule. **

**She realized he was waiting for her answer and she shook herself out of her stupor, physically shaking her head a bit to clear her thoughts. she trailed off, tugging on the end of her braid that hung over her left shoulder and keeping her eyes trained on the floor. **

**s always nice to see you in here,**See how you like that,Thanks-t exactly call him Smiley to his face.

s Peeta,Peeta Peeta,So what did you think?It was really, really great,Tea, huh? Who knew.I** he said. She quirked one eyebrow up at that. What did that even mean, she wondered. **

**He lingered for a moment more in the awkward silence and then finally he said, ll see you soon, Katniss.**Yeah,See you soon.t help but wonder if had something to do with the smiling barista who made it.


	3. Chapter 3

Normally, Katniss taught archery at the Y on Sunday afternoons, which is why she tried to run all her errands on Saturday. But this week Gale, another archer who taught at the Y, had asked her to switch days so he could attend a wedding with his new girlfriend Madge. Katniss and Gale had been close friends since they were both small and taking archery lessons themselves, and they had even tried dating once but that had ended after the first disastrous kiss when they both realized that it felt more like kissing a sibling.

Taking Gale's Saturday shift, meant Katniss was planning to do her grocery shopping on Sunday instead, and hence the reason she ended up in the coffee shop bright and early on Sunday morning. Despite the early hour, she was in an unusually good mood and had a wider than average smile on her face as she came through the door into the warm, aromatic place that she had come to think of as a home base of sorts. Peeta was behind the counter and he returned her smile eagerly, calling across the space to her. "Good morning Katniss! What brings you in here so early?"

"Actually," she began shyly, twisting her braid as she spoke, "I've been craving another one of those chai teas." He was watching her intently, nodding his head slightly as he listened. "Absolutely," he said, "turning to grab a fresh cup, "Do you want something to eat, too?"

"No-No thanks," she said, unconvincingly. The truth is, as inviting as the scones and other pastries always looked, they were expensive and unnecessary so she always passed. Working as a teaching assistant while she went to school for her doctorate didn't leave much room in her budget, and what little discretionary funds she had all went to her expensive caffeine habit at this coffee shop, anyway.

"Go ahead and sit down," Peeta said, giving her a friendly smile, "I'll bring it out."

"Oh, okay," she replied. No one had ever offered to do that before. Was this something they normally did for customers on Sundays or was he just being overly nice? She wondered about it to herself as she found her way to her window seat, which thankfully was free. A few minutes later he approached carrying her chai tea and something else on a plate. Her scowl formed before she could check herself.

Ignoring the look on her face, he set the plate carefully down in front of her, and said "I know you said you weren't hungry, but everyone needs breakfast and these go perfectly with the tea, I think."

"What is it?" she asked, her voice coming out slightly rude.

"It's a cheese bun," he replied eagerly, "I just took them out of the oven."

"You made this?" she questioned, still sounding more abrupt than she meant to be.

"Yeah," he said, smiling warmly down at her in a way that melted her defensiveness. "I made too many, so it's on the house." She looked into his sapphire colored eyes and saw only sincerity. Sighing, she relented. "Well, thank you," she said, but he still didn't move from his spot where he stood next to her table.

"Oh, um..." Katniss mumbled nervously and then pinched off a piece of the bun and popped it into her mouth. Warmth and flavor exploded on her tongue and she was unable to suppress a reactionary moan as a blend of melted cheeses and savory herbs assaulted her taste buds in the most tantalizing way. When she had swallowed she looked up to see Peeta grinning proudly. "Good?" he asked, although the question seemed entirely unnecessary given her reaction.

"This might be the best thing I've ever tasted," she admitted, unable to control the ridiculous grin that was overtaking her own face.

"I'm glad you like it," Peeta said, and then he turned back toward the coffee bar, walking away with what Katniss noticed was a slightly uneven gait. Halfway there he seemed to change his mind and he turned back toward her, catching her staring after him. "Just um, let me know if you need anything else Katniss," he said.

"Sure," she said, choking a bit on the word and then clearing her throat afterward. She tried not to look up at him working behind the counter too many times while she polished off the rest of the cheese bun and drank down the delicious tea.


	4. Chapter 4

On Monday she didn't really need to stop by the coffee shop-in fact, doing so was going to make her tight on time-but she couldn't resist the idea of having one of those incredible chai tea lattes. Surely it was just what she needed to combat the grumpiness she felt on such a gloomy, rainy day. She was surprised at the twinge of regret she felt when she realized Peeta wasn't working, but shook it off, reasoning that she what she really wanted was the tea, and it didn't really matter who made it.

When it came time to order she realized she didn't really know exactly how to order the drink, because the other times Peeta had simply made it for her. "I'd like chai tea, but a latte?" she said to the perky blond barista behind the counter. "Do you want it hot or iced?" the blond, whose name tag read "Glimmer" asked. "Hot," Katniss said decisively. That much she knew. "And um, can you make it with non-fat milk?"

She was a block away when she took her first sip and right away she noticed something was off. It wasn't that it tasted bad, necessarily, it just didn't taste exactly right. It was too sweet, she decided, with less of the spicy edge she had grown to love. After drinking about three quarters of it, she finally tossed it in a trash can, disappointed.

The next day, Tuesday, her face lit up when she saw Peeta behind the counter, even though she was expecting him to be there. "Oh good, you're here," she said, before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

His good natured laughter rang out and he responded, "I was just about to say the same thing to you." She bit her lip and looked down at that. She wasn't quite sure why she felt so uncomfortable all of the sudden. Looking back up she saw that he was rubbing the back of his neck, almost as if he was somehow nervous. His blue eyes were darker than normal, she thought, and one side of his generous lips quirked up in a half smile.

"I just meant, um, that I wanted you to make my chai tea. I, uh, like the way you make it," she stammered.

"Of course," he said in his friendly way, "Just let me take the next person's order and then I'll switch with Liz and make your drink. He looked over to the other barista, Liz, and she nodded in agreement.

Katniss paid for her drink and then stepped to the side, flushing slightly at the notion that Peeta was willing to go to so much trouble just for her. She found her eyes focused on the blond hairs covering his forearms as he punched numbers into the cash register, then roving up to his muscled biceps and strong, broad shoulders under the navy blue coffee house t-shirt he wore. Only when her eyes had made their way past his strong, chiseled jaw and had settled on his pink, curved lips did she notice the friendly banter he was exchanging with the next girl in line. Suddenly, she realized that she was being ridiculous to think that he was being nice to her for any special reason. He was nice to everyone; it was just his nature.

Sighing, she twisted her braid while he worked on making her drink. "I'm sorry we don't have any cheese buns made up tonight," Peeta said, and she only barely looked up to acknowledge him. "Are you going to sit down and stay for a little while?" he asked, and she nodded, still refusing to look directly at him. When she finally did, in order to take her drink from his hand, she realized he was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear nervously and wondering if there was something on her face.

"I have a break coming up, and I just wondered if you would mind if I sit with you for a minute," he said, his cheeks turning pink as he spoke.

"Oh!" she responded, confusion evident in her voice. "Sure, if you want."

"Great!" he said, smiling widely and wiping his hands on the front of this apron before reaching back to untie it. "I'll just be a minute."

She turned around wordlessly and made her way to her favorite table, wondering why on earth he would possibly want to waste his break talking to her.

He brought a cup of plain black coffee with him, nodding at her and giving a small smile as he sat down across from her at the table. "So how is your week going?" he asked straight away and she let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding before she answered. "It's going great. What about you?"

"Excellent," he said, his smile radiating like sunshine across the tabletop, leaving her feeling lighter than she had in days. He gestured to her laptop and backpack, where they sat on the floor near her feet. "So what are you in school for?" he asked.

"Environmental Science," she answered. "I'm getting my doctorate, so I'm working as a TA in a few classes this semester and then next semester I'll finish up my dissertation and hopefully start applying for positions."

It was the most she had ever said in a row to him and he nodded enthusiastically, his lips turned up in a permanent smile that would seem forced on anyone else, but was easy and natural on him. "That's great," he responded. "Interesting. Have you always been a big outdoors person, then?"

"Yeah," she found herself smiling back at him, relaxing into the conversation. This was her favorite subject and one she would never tire of talking about. "I grew up near a wooded area and I spent a lot of time out there. It's where I learned to shoot my bow," she shrugged her shoulders.

"You're an archer?" he asked, his eyebrow raising in interest.

"Yeah, my Dad actually taught me...he's a really great hunter..." she trailed off, her voice getting smaller.

"Do you still like to hunt with him?" Peeta asked innocently.

She felt her smile fall away and she shook her head, looking down at the table and turning her paper cup in circles. "He, um, he died when I was eleven," she said quietly.

"Oh, Katniss, I'm so sorry," Peeta said, and when she looked up she saw that the tops of his ears had turned red and his smile had finally fallen away as well.

"No, no. It's okay," she reassured him, forcing herself to look him in the eye as she spoke. "It's been a long time and I like to remember him like that; he was so happy in the woods. My best memories of him are the times we spent together there."

Peetas smile returned, although softer than before. "It sounds like a pretty magical place," he said, reaching out to gently pat her forearm where it rested on the table between them.

"It was," she said simply.

Peeta glanced to the counter then, and Katniss thought with dread that she was probably boring him. "My break is over," he said, "but thanks for letting me sit with you." He stood up and pushed in the chair.

"Sure," she said, lifting her shoulders slightly, feigning indifference.

"I'll see you Thursday?" he asked, and she nodded before he turned and walked away. She tried but failed to drag her eyes away from his perfectly rounded backside and he suddenly turned back to glance at her once more. Almost immediately he broke out into an enormous grin. Yeah, he totally caught her.


	5. Chapter 5

It was almost unconscious at first, how Katniss found herself avoiding the coffee shop on the days she knew Peeta wouldn't be there. She tried to reason that it was because no one could make her chai tea quite the way he did, which was exactly the way she liked it. She felt her face flush with heat when she thought of the possible other things he might be able to do just the way she liked them.

She found herself wondering what he did when he wasn't working at the coffee shop, and then wishing that he would spend his break with her again so she could ask him. This was so unlike herself that she had to physically shake her head as the idea occurred to her while she trekked across campus toward Tribute Street one day.

"Hi Peeta," she said, accepting the drink from him that he had starting making for her before she even cleared the door. He had started doing that lately; making her drink as soon as he saw her opening the door, anticipating her order. Sometimes now, instead of slinking away to her window table right away, she found herself leaning on the coffee bar, making idle chit chat with him while he continued to make drinks for other patrons; enjoying some additional time with him, if only to stay in close contact with his dazzling smile just a little bit longer.

Finally one evening she got up the nerve to ask him about his life outside the coffee shop. "So, do you have any other talents, besides making really delicious cheese buns?" she asked, in a very un-Katniss like manner. My god, she even sounded flirtatious. Where was this coming from?

He chuckled in response. "I like to paint," he said. "I'm in the Art program at the University, actually." He was pouring steamed milk into a caramel latte and she could hardly tear her eyes away from his forearm in order to give her full attention to his answer. When she finally did look up at his face, licking her lips, she saw that he wore an amused expression and her face immediately felt 100 degrees hotter.

"What do you paint?" she asked, bringing herself back into the moment.

"Anything, really," he replied. "Mostly landscapes, but sometimes I paint things I dream and those can be fairly abstract."

"Well I'd love to see them sometime," she found herself saying. What?! Did she really just say that? She saw his eyebrows lift in surprise and then he cleared his throat audibly.

"That'd be great," he said, his voice an octave higher than normal. "I have some on display, actually, in the student center, right now. We could, uh, walk over there after my shift, if you want."

She frowned. "I can't," she admitted. "I have a class at 7." Seeing his face fall, she quickly amended, "I could meet you tomorrow?"

His face brightened immediately. "That'd be great! What time should we meet? Or, I could pick you up."

"Let's just meet there," she said, starting to feel nervous about seeing him outside of her coffee shop bubble. "About 11:30?"

"That sounds good," he said, neutrally, and she hopped down from the bar stool and nodded at him before she headed off to her table to grade a few papers.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Katniss approached the student center right at 11:25. She had a tendency to be early no matter where she was going, and no matter what time she was supposed to arrive. She waited outside the main entrance until her phone read 11:35, then sighing, she made her way inside to see if he had possibly beat her there and was already waiting near the art display.

He wasn't outside the art gallery either and she turned away disappointed, her cheeks crimson with annoyance at herself for getting so excited about meeting him outside the coffee shop. This is exactly why she never let herself get caught up with guys. It's why she had only ever been on a handful of real dates, and really only kissed one person, which was Gale and didn't even count because it was more like kissing a cousin. She was too old to be this inexperienced, she thought, and this was exactly what happened because of her inexperience: she had no idea what she was doing when it came to men.

With these thoughts on a running loop, and her head down, she almost missed him as he passed through the doors heading inside just as she was exiting. "Katniss?" he questioned, opening the door again and looking out at her as she plodded toward the sidewalk. Her head whipped up and her eyes widened.

"Oh!" she said, slightly startled. "I didn't think you were coming."

"Sorry," he said, sheepishly, hands stuffed in his pockets, his backside still holding the door open. "I got caught up at the coffee shop."

"I thought you didn't work on Wednesdays?" she questioned.

"I don't work out front, but I come in every morning to bake," he explained. "Today there was a special order for cake balls, from one of the offices downtown, so I'm running a little behind. I'm sorry you had to wait for me."

He was still standing there holding the door ajar, so she finally moved to enter, and he let the door close behind them. She smiled shyly up at him. "Okay," was all she said.

"Well, should we go to the gallery?" he asked, and when she nodded he put his large, warm hand on the small of her back and guided her forward toward the other side of the hallway. The heat from the place where his hand just barely touched her back was overwhelming and she couldn't tell if the warmth was actually coming from his touch, or if her body was just overreacting to the idea of it. Either way, she felt her cheeks burning and she simultaneously wanted to run away and lean into him.

His art was tremendous and she told him so. She could hardly fathom how someone as genuinely upbeat and optimistic as Peeta could create such dark, foreboding scenes, but despite their subject matter she felt drawn to their beauty. She could almost trace his precise nature in every brush stroke; could feel his intrinsic goodness in every true color he had carefully blended.

"Wow, Peeta. Just wow," she said, her eyes wide as she took in one particular painting of what appeared to be wild dogs attacking the viewer, their glowing eyes like that of rabid wolves, but with something distinctly human there as well.

"I know they're...different," he said, trepidation in his voice. "I sometimes have to paint out the nightmares, to make them go away."

She turned to him, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth, and then turned back again to the painting. "But Peeta," she said, disbelieving, "You're always so happy. Why do you have such bad dreams?"

The look he gave her was heartbreaking. "Things aren't always as they seem Katniss," he said. "We do what we can to make the best of what we're given."

She couldn't help it-her gaze went straight to his left leg. She had noticed many times in the coffee shop that he favored his right. She wondered if his nightmares had anything to do with the obvious injury he had somewhere on his left side. He noticed her gaze and he suddenly cleared his throat and declared in his most positive and cheery voice, "Who wants some ice cream?"

They laughed together over soft serve ice cream in a sticky vinyl booth tucked away in a corner of the student center cafeteria. She learned that Peeta grew up helping out in his family's bakery and that he had two older brothers. She told him about her little sister, the only person she was sure she loved in the whole world, and the smartest person she knew as well. He talked about his days on the wrestling team in high school, and she filled him in on her love of archery, and the fact that she learned everything she knew from her Dad and her best friend Gale, but consistently beat him in archery contests.

"So Gale, he's your boyfriend?" Peeta asked casually, looking down and taking a sip of his water.

"What, no!" she answered emphatically. "I mean, we did go out a few times, but it never worked," she elaborated.

His lips quirked up into a small smile and she could swear she heard him clap his hands together under the table.

"Well, I have class soon, so..." she trailed off.

"Sure," he stood up, preparing to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"What?" she asked, and then, realizing he meant at the coffee shop, "Oh sure. I'll see you then."

"I had fun, Katniss," he said, his tone genuine and then suddenly he was leaning in to hug her. She felt her entire body tense; she was not the hugging type. But then his arms were wrapping around her shoulders and she felt herself drawn into the warmth of his solid chest. Her eyes closed involuntarily, and she found herself breathing in the smell of nutmeg and vanilla on his shirt, her own arms hesitantly wrapping around his middle and clasping momentarily behind his back. All too soon he pulled away. "Well, see ya," he said, turning to go.

"See ya," she whispered. And then he was gone.


End file.
